More Than A Fable
by Roseria Sylvester
Summary: A young girl's life is changed with the help of a Hero- but when that Hero vanishes and is believed dead, it's the girl turned young woman's turn to show Albion that Hero's are often more than stuff of Fables... and that happiness from dark beginnings is so much more than a Myth.


**So I've had this story bouncing around in my head for a while now- and here it is. I wanna thank Grand Master Darkstormfor being amazing and doing research into the Fable series JUST to make a character for this! His character being the mysterious Raphael. Enjoy everyone!**

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_As a child, I grew up predominately alone. I vaguely remember my mother's sad smile as she welcomed me home each day after school. Often I would look away to hide the scrapes and bruises I had tried hard not to get- my fellow students having started various fights for stupid reasons, though the subject of my father had always been enough to boil my blood. I always finished those particular fights- so I was hated by most children and even some adults, and those that didn't hate me simply ignored my very existence. My life became even harder… when my mother passed- a simple flu is hard to shake when you work two jobs, and when she died I was completely alone. I hated the world, I had no hope and nothing to look forward to each morning but the open skies of Albion and the loneliness of being an orphan living on the streets of Bowerstone South. I lived like that for two years- until the age of nine- stealing what I needed to survive and doing what I could to secretly pay back the shop keepers I stole from. It wasn't until just after my ninth birthday that a glimmer of hope appeared in my life. It began with a simple fight; some of the children who I had attended school with in the past had decided that because I was nothing but a street urchin that they would not incur the wrath of adults if they abused me, unlike two years ago when their malicious actions against me had resulted in detentions from the teacher and even being sent to bed without supper by their parents. The fights back then had always been one on one- rarely ever was I against two- but this time…they ganged up on me. Five of my most brutal aggressors jumped me in the alleyway I had made my make-shift home, for a bit I managed to fend them off- but soon I found myself knocked to the ground. They kicked my ribs without mercy and I fought not to cry from the pain, I would not give them the satisfaction of knowing how badly they were hurting me; but my anger and despair soon began to overwhelm my pain._

"_LEAVE ME ALONE!" I shouted as the unexpected occurred, a blast of energy knocked the bullies back onto their asses before they scrambled to their feet and rushed away. I sat on the cold ground and let my tears fall as I hugged my knees to my sore chest, my left eye and right cheek swollen from their punches._

"_With power like that, you could have done so much more than repel your attackers; but you didn't." came a kind voice from the end of the alleyway, I turned my head to face the source and my eyes fell on a woman in a blood red cloak with the cowl drawn over her face._

"_Go away old lady." I said as I turned away to hide my tears from this unknown adult. She simply chuckled at my bravado, even after what had just happened._

"_If you want to stay here in this alleyway alone, then I will leave you be. However, with power like that- you belong at the Hero's Guild. Or do you like living in an alleyway?" she said simply, her question more rhetorical than an actual inquiry. My head perked up, this woman was giving me a choice- but was she to be trusted? She placed a hand on her hip as she waited, the dim light in the alleyway reflecting off her belt buckle… the Guild Seal gleaming proudly was all the proof I needed. It's obvious that I left Bowerstone with that woman, imagine my surprise when I realized she was THE Scarlet Robe- one of the few female Heroes and a slayer of balverines- looking back on it now… I think the cloak should have been a hint, but then again I was just a child then. She brought me to the Guild, and in time she became something of a mentor to me- the closest thing to a mother I had known in so long. I cherished every training session, and every 'field trip' to Scarlet's old home of Knothole Glade was the greatest adventure of my young life. She taught me the best way to kill a balverine- how to augment my weapons with silver for the most damage possible. Remembering these days of childhood bliss bring tears to my eyes as I remember the day it all came crashing down. At least twenty balverines must have cornered Scarlet in the bloodied glade- several of their heads lay drying in the sun in the aftermath of her battle- but not a sign of her could be found… nearly everyone assumed her dead. But not I. I knew my mentor well enough to know that it would have taken a hundred balverines or more to kill the infamous Scarlet Robe._

"_Hey! Eura!" shouted Eckhart, breaking my train of thought and pulling me from my memories. "Eura, the Guild Master is looking for you; he's in the library." said my fellow trainee, out of breath from running to find me. I sighed and swung my legs around to hop off the railing of the bridge closest to the archery range before thanking Eckhart for relaying the message and walking off to the main hall of the Guild. I climbed the high steps from the dining hall into the antechamber before the map room and veered off to the right as I headed for the archway into the library, finding the Guild Master with his nose in a book. I cleared my throat and I swear the old man jumped three feet off the ground. I chuckled as he placed the book back on the shelf before turning to me and straightening his coat._

"_I see Eckhart found you well enough. I asked you here to personally give you a bit of exciting news." he said simply, with a smile on his moustached face. For a moment hope rose in my heart that they had found Scarlet- and as if the Guild Master had read my mind he continued with a sad sigh. "In light of the death of your previous mentor- Scarlet Robe- you have been receiving standard training alongside the un-mentored trainees. That changes today. I believe you will do nicely with your new mentor, you can meet him by the statue of Maze at Lookout Point." he explained, and I tried hard not to show that I was disappointed. The Guild Master looked down before approaching me and placing a hand on my shoulder, "We all know you still hold out hope… but you of all people know you have skill- and that skill must be refined if you are to reach your full potential. Scarlet would not want to see that potential wasted." he said kindly, my eyes misting slightly as I realized he was right. I would try to let go of the past just enough to get along with my new mentor- for Scarlet's sake. I needed to become stronger if I wanted to have any chance of finding the woman who had changed my world and prove to those who thought her dead that she had survived._

_I returned to my room and gathered my things: my oak longbow and a few potions; having no idea what my new mentor might have planned, it was best to be prepared for anything- yet another of Scarlet's lessons. I smile at the memory as I holster my bow on my back with my quiver, walking swiftly out of my room and downstairs to the map room and out the large double doors leading to Lookout Point; the statue of Maze being at the top of the hill only no more than 50 feet from the Guild. I waved politely to the passing townspeople on their way to leave quest cards at the guild or to visit family members undergoing training. Walking up the hill I began to look around the small area around the statue of Maze, several benches were scattered about but none of them held anyone who looked like they could have been my new mentor._

"_So, you're the girl the old man wants me to train? You don't look like much." came a voice that seemed to have no particular source of direction. I looked around and tried to concentrate on the sound, _

"_The Guild Master wouldn't give me a mentor if he thought I wasn't capable of much. Looks aren't everything you know." I said sarcastically, hoping to goad my new mentor into revealing himself. I could hear him laugh slightly,_

"_Confident. That's good. Let's see if you can hold up to the Guild Master's opinion of you." he said, his voice seeming to come from the trees around the clearing. So he was in the trees? Or was he on the ground behind the tree line… I soon received my answer as an arrow zipped past my face- barely having time to move out of the way enough to gain only a small scratch. This man wasn't playing around with his shots; if I had been slower or had a delayed reaction… I would probably be dead._

"_HOLY HELL!" came the startled voice of a passerby- the arrow having just missed his face as well before embedding into the bark of a tree._

"_Hmm… perhaps we should move this to Greatwood. Follow." he said, the leaves of the trees closest to the Greatwood Archway beginning to sway; so he was in the branches this whole time. I followed this mysterious mentor into the forest, the likely hood that we would accidentally hit a bystander diminishing to dubious levels._

_Greatwood lives up to its name, being the largest forest in Albion- wild and untamed with either bandits or creatures around nearly every turn. I was surprised to see the area clear of such things and I was bringing to think this man had cleared the area before meeting me- he had probably planned this from the start._

"_Now, Lets see what your made of." he said, firing another arrow from the branches- I was expecting the attack this time and dodged just in time, drawing my own bow and nocking an arrow. My Arrow sailed into the branches- and I could here the man scoff. "Not even close. Try again." he said, his voice bordering on a stern order. I nocked another arrow and concentrated on where I had seen the arrow come from and the direction of the man's voice- letting my arrow fly once again. I could hear him wince, "not bad for a nearly blind shot. You scratched my arm." he said before dropping out of the branches. At first I thought it had been nothing but a trick- the man being in full assassin's garb- and nocked another arrow to kill the man dead. "Stay your arrow, Euralye." he said simply, understanding my reason for confusion and using my full real name to assure me he really was the man the Guild Master had asked to train me. I returned my arrow to it's quiver and approached my new mentor, my eyes scrutinizing him; his black hair being cut short and slightly slicked back, with ocean blue eyes- the rest of his face obscured by the face mask of his clothes, though I could see a slight bit of scruff just over the edge of the covering. "You did satisfactory with the bow, now lets see how you do with melee shall we?" he said quickly before drawing a steel sword and attacking me with barely enough time for me to draw a small dagger from my hip. I hardly ever used melee and was not even close to a match against a graduated Hero, easily being knocked back by the force of the blow. "That was down right pitiful. You shouldn't rely on your bow so much, if someone sneaks up on you or is fast enough to get close- your screwed." he instructed as he sheathed his blade. At first I thought the test was over, but then I remembered the third aspect of a Hero's training… Will powers. "Show me what spells you are best at." he said simply, waiting for me to cast a spell. _

_In the blink of an eye I had blasted him with fire from behind, a small smirk on my lips as I stood with a fireball in hand. The man turned to face me and from his eyes I could tell he was smirking as well, "A combination of Slow Time and Fireball. Well done, I'll have to remember that combo." he said with a small chuckle._

"_It's a Eura-patented combo, but I suppose I could let you use it." I said with a sarcastic smirk, making him raise an eyebrow before shaking his head._

"_Lets head back to the guild, I'm sure we can find a quest that shouldn't be too hard for you." he said, though I could tell he was being sarcastic; was he trying to praise me in his own way? I followed him out of Greatwood, back to Lookout Point, and the guild beyond that._

"_So what's your name anyway?" I asked as we arrived at the double doors of the guild. The man said nothing for a moment as he placed a hands on the doors and pushed them open,_

"_Raphael." he said simply, almost reluctantly. _

"_I see you two survived your first training session together." joked the Guild Master as we entered the guild, Raphael going straight to the map table after giving a curt nod to the kind old man. I simply stood against the wall and let Raphael choose the mission; I didn't really care so long as it wasn't against hobbes… I hate hobbes._

"_How does ending a riot in Knothole Glade sound to you? We can test your peace-keeping skills." Raphael suggested as he held up the card. My eyes lighting up at the mention of Knothole Glade as I rushed forward to grab the card with a gleeful grin on my face._

"_Sounds simply divine." I said cheerfully as I headed for the guild's Cullis Gate with quest card in hand and my replacement mentor close behind me, shaking his head at my child-like gusto._


End file.
